[CU2] Excessive oil consumption

[tron07]

cheers. so what can i do to solve this problem?

drive it hard, break the engine in more? my cuz doesnt drive all that much, maybe 200km/week.

I do about 150km per week... lol

[aaronng]

I certainly didn't baby it, nor did I thrash it (much) when I ran it in. I seriously doubt it was run in poorly. I think there is something not quite right with it.

When the car is started first thing in the morning, does it get driven off immediately or do you wait about 30 seconds to let it idle and circulate the engine oil?

When driving off in the morning, do you use 1/4, 1/2 or 3/4 throttle?

While running in the engine is important, modern engines are built with tighter tolerances and such should not consume engine oil if not run in the hard way. I do notice that for Euro's that if the car is started in the morning and then driven off straight away with a good amount of throttle that I smell burning engine oil and blue smoke. This was from my neighbour's Euro and every day she would start the engine, put it straight into D and drive off with serious throttle, probably getting to 3000-4000rpm when the engine was still cold and the oil had not yet properly circulated the engine. I suspect this caused premature wear to the piston rings seeing that the time taken from start to driving off was under 5 seconds. Not sure why she was always in a rush.....

An engine in good condition shouldn't burn oil at that high rate. For my engine, I've even pushed it at 4000-7000rpm constantly for a total of 90 minutes in a day and it did not consume any oil at the end. The level on the dipstick was still the same.

[bugeater]

It only gets used on the weekends with reasonably long runs (out into the countryside to fish). The warmup is pretty gentle and certainly doesn't get pushed hard from cold. It probably takes at least a minute or two to get out of the garage and once out I don't push it for a while.

[aaronng]

Are your exhaust tips black and oily?

[bugeater]

Ha! been a long time since I looked at this, but in response to the last question: No, the exhaust tips are not black and oily.

Plus to update, they put it on oil watch. At the 1000km check, they said it was fine and there was no need to come back. I did check it myself and it did look okay. But the next time I checked (maybe 2000 km later), it was low, so I topped it up. Basically it seems to have consumed about 1L/3000km. It's in the shop today and they told me that Honda claims that excessive oil consumption is >1L/1000km. But they did say they would talk to Honda Australia about it.

Question is: do you all think 1 liter of oil consumed per 3000 km is acceptable? Basically if you did the full 10,000 km between services you would almost change the oil once. I don't think this is acceptable.

I'm also worried about the cause. What could it actually be? Plus, if my driving style changes (say I start commuting with it), will the consumption get worse? Last thing I want is the warranty to run out, start using it as a commuter and discover I have to add a liter of oil with every fill up. This is what I used to do when I rode a 2 stroke motorcycle, I shouldn't have to do it with a car.

[curtis265]

Ha! been a long time since I looked at this, but in response to the last question: No, the exhaust tips are not black and oily.

Plus to update, they put it on oil watch. At the 1000km check, they said it was fine and there was no need to come back. I did check it myself and it did look okay. But the next time I checked (maybe 2000 km later), it was low, so I topped it up. Basically it seems to have consumed about 1L/3000km. It's in the shop today and they told me that Honda claims that excessive oil consumption is >1L/1000km, which is rediculous. But they did say they would talk to Honda Australia about it.

Question is: do you all think 1 liter of oil consumed per 3000 km is acceptable? Basically if you did the full 10,000 km between services you would almost change the oil once. I don't think this is acceptable.

I'm also worried about the cause. What could it actually be? Plus, if my driving style changes (say I start commuting with it), will the consumption get worse? Last thing I want is the warranty to run out, start using it as a commuter and discover I have to add a liter of oil with every fill up. This is what I used to do when I rode a 2 stroke motorcycle, I shouldn't have to do it with a car.

absolutely not, that's quite a lot. Do you play with the high cams a lot?

Have you had a leakdown and compression test done?

[bugeater]

Hmmm, I might suggest those tests to the dealership, though it's a bit poor they haven't done them already.

By high cams, I'm assuming you mean do I thrash it? I don't. A lot of its kays are in sixth gear on cruise control.

Anyway, it is back on oil watch, but we will keep it up this time. Now apparently >500ml/1000km is excessive according to Honda Australia, so my car isn't far off that when driving in reasonably benign conditions. Also, the dealership basically admitted that most of these cars use effectively no oil at all. So we will see.....

Also found out that one of the new guys at work is an ex-mechanic and he thinks this oil consumption is way, way high for a new car.

[Jasemas]

You probably got a defected K24 engine
There have been reports that some K series engines use alot of oil and it may be a design flaw in the engine - in the U.S
Just keep checking the oil regularly and keep on contacting Honda Australia as this sort of thing should of been stopped years ago - oil consumption
If they wont do anything about it go to fair trading
i you're lucky Honda may buy back your car
Hell my car is 18 years old and uses 100mls/1500kms and has done over 250xxx kms
Good luck

[curtis265]

Hmmm, I might suggest those tests to the dealership, though it's a bit poor they haven't done them already.

By high cams, I'm assuming you mean do I thrash it? I don't. A lot of its kays are in sixth gear on cruise control.

Anyway, it is back on oil watch, but we will keep it up this time. Now apparently >500ml/1000km is excessive according to Honda Australia, so my car isn't far off that when driving in reasonably benign conditions. Also, the dealership basically admitted that most of these cars use effectively no oil at all. So we will see.....

Also found out that one of the new guys at work is an ex-mechanic and he thinks this oil consumption is way, way high for a new car.

ur mate's right

no healthy engine should consume oil

[aaronng]

I fang my CL9 heaps and even after 90 minutes of true constant 4500 - 7000 RPM, it doesn't consume any oil....

[tw586]

all internal combustion engine should use oil, if they dont the upper area of the cylinder wall is not being lubricated. this will result in wear at the top ring land on the bore and engine life will be reduced. most modern light automotive SI engines are manufactured so well they dont need to be run in like the old cars did. But driving like a little old lady will glaze the cylinder bore and result in oil consumption. industry standard for oil consunption is 400ppm( HC) in the exhaust at operating temp, idle 5min , pre cat con. This is a very long and difficult test to do and most dealers wont have the equipment to do it. 1000cc oil for 3000klm is not that excessive but for 1000klm is getting a bit high. Incorrect oil choice appears to be the main cause. full synthetics around 5w are just a little to thin for my taste, I use 10w30 shell full mineral and change every 6 mts in my my12 euro and it uses about 250 cc between changes so I am happy with that. Also note KA24 engines have a low rod ratio at @1.56 to 1 so the piston is working hard on the bore thrust side, a little extra lube can't hurt.

[sensei_]

What are the side effects of excessive oil consumption? Basically, if the oil level is always topped up, will it have any detrimental impact on the engine?